MOEEN: THIS CAN BE OUR GREATEST YET

FROM DEAN WILSON in Dubai

MOEEN ALI believes T20 World Cup glory this week without Jason Roy would make it England’s greatest achievement yet as a white-ball team.

Roy is out of the tournament with a torn left calf which sidelines him next to Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Tymal Mills, who would all be playing otherwise.

Hampshire batsman James Vince has been drafted into the squad as the replacement for Roy, injured in the loss to South Africa (above). Roy said: “I’m gutted. It is a bitter pill to swallow. But I will be staying on to support the boys.”

It is the injury list of first choice players that leads Moeen to suggest a win against New Zealand tomorrow, followed by one more triumph on Sunday, would not necessarily be more significant but a greater challenge than lifting the ODI World Cup in 2019 with a fully fit squad.

Mooen said: “This would be our greatest achievement. We feel like the work that we’ve put in as a squad, as a 15 or 16, over the last few years, it will feel like we’ve been repaid.

“We’ve lost so many players but the players that come in are as good. If we win the World Cup, it will show the depth of English cricket.”

For Moeen, it would be a feather in his cap after missing out on both the semi-final and final of the 2019 tournament.

He accepted that he had to make way for the good of the team. He said: “I was obviously slightly disappointed that I wasn’t playing in the semi or final in 2019, but I was still there for the boys. I know that it was best for the team at that time.”

But here in the UAE, he has become central to England’s fortunes with both bat and ball.